Munich for culture vultures

Allianz Arena

Mandarin Oriental, Munich

Take the Allianz Arena (www.allianz-arena.de). With its perfect
sightlines, bearable acoustics and thrilling architecture, it is
arguably the greatest sports stadium in existence. Designed by
Herzog & de Meuron (of Tate Modern and Beijing's Bird's Nest
fame) as a home not just for Germany's richest and most dominant
football club, Bayern Munich, but also TSV 1860 and the German
national team. It looks like an immense inflatable cushion covered
in not-quite-transparent quilting that changes colour depending on
who's playing, glowing red when Bayern are at home, blue when it's
TSV 1860 and white when it's Germany.

It's worth a visit whether or not there's a match on,
and if you're staying at one of the swisher hotels - Rocco Forte's
elegantly understated Charles Hotel (www.thecharleshotel.com; doubles from about
£470), for example, or the slick Mandarin Oriental,
Munich (www.mandarinoriental.com/munich; doubles from
about £445) - the concierge should be able to get you tickets. But
they are likely to become even rarer this summer when Pep
Guardiola, the world's most sought-after football coach, who turned
Barcelona into just about the best team ever, takes over as
manager.